Nigeria – ‘the Giant of Africa’

Nigeria the “Giant of Africa” is the most populous country of the continent and also the one with the largest economy [2]. Its approximately 177 million inhabitants make it the seventh most populous country globally, and also the country with one of the largest youth cohorts in the world [3]. In 2014, with GDP of $502 billion, Nigeria’s economy became Africa’s largest, ranking globally 21st [4]. Yet, in this seemingly prosperous country poverty still remains very significant – over 62% of the Nigerians live in extreme poverty, as reported by the World CIA Factbook.

Nigerian Oil and the TNCs

Nigeria’s oil reserves make the country the tenth petroleum-rich nation; the petroleum industry being the country’s largest. Six large Trans-National Companies (TNC) operate in the country: Royal Dutch Shell, Shevron, Exxon-Mobil, Agip, Total and Texaco. However, the competition for oil profits has resulted in terror and strife, as the economic benefits resultant from the oil profits have not been distributed fairly. Corruption has been widespread with the most corrupt institutions being listed as the Nigerian police, political parties, government.
Squeezed between corrupt public officials and the TNC are the local communities. Human Rights Watch summarizes their predicament: ‘Despite a massive army, navy and police presence in the area, local communities remain vulnerable to attack by the militias, criminal gangs and security forces. Oil companies rarely speak out publicly about such abuses; indeed, some of their own practices have contributed to the conflict,’ (HRW, 2005: 145-146) [5].

Traditions and social fellowship

Photo: UNESCO

In Nigeria modern forms of economics and politics interact with traditional social practices, such as masked dances and rituals. Masked dances are an important part of social life – such as the famous masquerade in the city of Calabar – these dances are related to significant events in community life. The agaba groups, their members being only young men, have complex identities: they are urban dance societies, secret cults, masquerade clubs, urban street gangs and more (Pratten, 2007: 87) [6].

Drawing on the richness of their tradition and in spite of their poverty, the Nigerian communities and social fellowships have multiple facets to their identity, thus acquiring the capacity to transform the circumstances, adapt and forge social resilience, while facing overwhelming odds.

The men behind the masks

Photo: UNESCO

A glimpse of the men behind the masks was possible thanks to the talk of Professor David Pratten (University of Oxford), given at the University of Cambridge [7]. Dr. Pratten’s brief account of his anthropological and ethnographic work in Nigeria followed the fortunes of several young men, members of an agaba group. The talk explored the creative ways in which poor disenfranchised young Nigerian men deal with the social exclusion and poverty and the pivotal role of masks, dances and rituals for creating strong bonds, friendship and fellowship of support. The men participate in informal gathering and dances.
A report by Human Rights Watch gives a glimpse into the difficulties faced by the young men: ‘Despite repeated promises of reform by senior government and police officials, extra-judicial killings, torture, ill treatment, arbitrary arrests and extortion remain the hallmarks of the Nigerian police,’ (HRW, 2005: 146) [8].

Prof. Pratten shared stories of arbitrary detention and police harrassment of the young men. In one particularly striking case a young man called ‘Warrior’ was incarcerated by the police for three weeks. ‘Warrior’ told the Oxford ethnographer that he was kept in cell, which was so full of detainees, that he had to stand for the whole three weeks. The response of the young men to police brutality is a song:

‘No pity oh’

Regardless of their harsh circumstances, the rituals that the young men performed were full of exuberance, imagination and creativity. Prof. Pratten had recorded a video material documenting the authentic dances of several agaba groups. The dances were both an expression of their vibrant relations with the world and also a social commentary and criticism of the social mores and roles. The songs, which the young men had composed, spoke of their dreams and aspirations and reflected on the world, surrounding them – e.g. in one song a young men aspired to buy a ‘Pafinder’ – Nissan Path-finder. Yet for many of them, their dreams came to naught. The Oxford scientist finished his lecture by sharing that most of these young men are now dead. Death was a familiar subject to the agaba group, who sang about it:

Ethnographers have argued that militant theater of protest seeks to mobilize members of the community into common action. Yet, in this case the performances of the agaba group were not militant war-dances, but a means of sharing and support, building a fragile fellowship of friendship in a social environment, which has denied opportunities to the disenfranchised youth. Sadly, in spite of their youth, now many of the participants in the ethnographic study of Dr. Pratten will only live on as ‘ghost dancers’ and ‘ghost singers;’ his fragile recording being the only means by which people outside their immediate community will learn about life and death in the Niger delta, in one of the richest African countries.

Those, who would not be troubled by such ghosts should remember that three of the six oil companies operating in Nigeria are European and three American. Royal Dutch Shell, for example, had 421 billion USD in revenue in 2014. In spite of this tremendous oil wealth, for the agaba young men there is ‘no pity oh.’

Acknowledgements:

Dr. David Pratten (University of Oxford) is gratefully acknowledged as this blog draws upon his lecture ‘Militant Masks: Youth and Insecurity in the Niger Delta,’ delivered at the University of Cambridge on the 9th of March, 2015. Dr. Pratten is also acknowledged with gratitude for his kind permission to use his original photos and audio recording.

The peer review, comments and suggestions of Dr. Richard Oriji, member of the University of Cambridge Nigerian Society are also gratefully acknowledged.